Print Prerogative

Red Kite is a registered charity which provides a helpline with comprehensive support services for all adults, of any gender, who have experienced sexual violence at any time in their lives.

For every sale we make, 5% of our commission is donated to charity, and Red Kite is one of the organisations which we support.

Head to their website to learn more about the work they do: https://redkitesupport.org.uk/

To mark the start of spring, details of 'The Spring I've Never Seen', by Xintong Zhang. Aquatint, 31 x 30 cm, edition of 5, 2020. This work is available now on our website.

Xintong Zhang is a London-based artist whose practice incorporates etching, stone lithography, moving image and installation. She graduated from Sun Yat-Sen University in Anthropology in 2019 before undertaking an MA in Print at the Royal College of Art. Due to her research background, Xintong uses an anthropological methodology in her art practice to document the dialogue between humans and plants.

Xintong’s work is focused on investigating the value of weeds in urban landscapes as a metaphor for resistance to the hierarchical value system in human society. She exposes their fragility and marginalised property by running fresh plants directly under the printing press, to make imprints on top of etched images. Her work aims to bring attention to the beauty of those whose existence is isolated or marginalised and raises discussions on living circumstances, identity and sense of belonging.

Xintong enjoys the process of printmaking. It has led her to experiment with photoetching, mono-printing and stone lithography. She has found her own way to visualise wild plants in the city landscapes. Using her dual histories as an artist and anthropologist Xintong builds on her fieldwork, studying weeds in Yunnan, China in 2017. As the base of all her works, fieldwork allows her to share a new vision of the value of the overlooked in an urban environment.

‘Bear 47 (with bottle)’ by . Etching and aquatint on paper, 19 x 19 cm, edition of 22, 2023.

A character appeared in the sketchbook of Staffan Gnosspelius: a bear with a cone on his head. At the time, someone very close to him was fighting both depression and alcoholism, and he was struggling to find a way to help them. His frustration came out on the pages of his sketchbook in the form of this bear, which he drew repeatedly. The darker his mood, the darker the place where the bear was. At times there were octopus tentacles dragging him down and thorns obstructing his path. After some time, another figure started to emerge in the drawings: a hare. The hare is trying to help the bear rid himself of the cone. His help is neither wanted nor appreciated, but he sticks with the bear nonetheless. A narrative started to form between these two characters, and Gnosspelius followed their struggle. It took a while for him to realise that the hare was himself.

Printmaking is a crucial part of Gnosspelius' art practice, so it was natural that these drawings became etchings. The lines were etched deeply, then a layer of aquatint was applied, which usually became too dark, resulting in him having to scrape and burnish the image back into life. Gnosspelius has a soft spot for scratches and foul-bite, so for some of the prints he used the back of old plates as a starting point. This way, it was a matter of finding which old scars in the plate could live within the image and which he had to scrape back. Seven years later and the project has developed into a wordless picture book of eighty pages of etchings. There is no text because Gnosspelius wants the images to be open to the reader’s interpretation. The book is called 'bear' and was published by Seven Stories Press in New York in the spring of 2023. Gnosspelius has been living in London since 2002, when he graduated from Edinburgh College of Art.

This print is available on our website. Link in bio.

Details of ‘In the Witch’s House’ by

‘She encircled my head with her fingers and rubbed it, singing something folky under her breath. She smelled more like Mama than a witch - of dishwater and borsch and Lancôme perfume. She massaged her song into my head, hard and fast, now building my hair up into a crown, now letting it fall to my shoulders. "Into the forest they go! Into the forest! Into the forest!" she shrieked.

It felt good, but so what: this witch didn't know what she was doing. She had been wrong in her diagnosis of my pain, which was gone. I was doomed.

She lifted her hands and blew hot breath on my nape.'

-extract from ‘The Witch' a short story from Snow in May by Kseniya Melnik (2014), an inspiration for this work by Alice Lockhart.

‘In the Witch’s House’, by Alice Lockhart, 2023. Hard ground etching with aquatint and drypoint, 18x45 cm, edition of 10.

studied Illustration at Falmouth University, graduating in 2022, and completed the Drawing Year at the Royal Drawing School in 2023. Influenced by her interest in storytelling, her work weaves together imagery from dreams, memories and observations to create an imaginal space which is both familiar and yet deeply strange.

This artwork is available now on our website.

‘Breaking Out’ by , deserves to be seen in detail.

Monotype, 76x55cm, 2022.

‘Yes Sir’, 2023, by Matt David. Multi-layered cyanotype on watercolour paper, 42 x 29.7cm, unique print.

is a Scottish, q***r artist living in London. A graduate of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Dundee, their background is in illustration. Their current work focuses on using the medium of cyanotype printing to handle a range of q***r themes.They look to the work of the q***r artists who were making work during the AIDS crisis during the 1980s, such as Félix González-Torres, with a particular focus on the despair and anguish expressed over the lack of action from the general public in response to the crisis. David finds ways to re-frame these narratives in the present day, when HIV is no longer a death sentence, and the disease can be easily managed with medication. David was awarded the Honorable Mention Award in the "8th Open" art competition with Teravarna Art Gallery. Other selected exhibitions include GWX Gallery in Groundworks, Tuscon, and Suffolk Pride 2023 exhibition "Thrive".

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‘Birdwatchers, Dungeness’, by . Aquatint,
22 x 32 cms,
Edition of 20.

In Skeaping’s work, we glimpse environments where manmade structures and the natural world meet, often in a surreal juxtaposition. By reinterpreting images from personal photographs, drawings, online content and familiar art works, she captures the uncanny or strange.
Skeaping lives and works in Devon, UK. She graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a BA Joint Hons in Visual Studies and History of Art. She has exhibited nationally in mixed shows since 2016. Highlights include the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair (2019, 2020, 2022& 2023), Ingram Prize (2023), Wells Contemporary, the Lyn Painters & Stainers Prize, ING Discerning Eye and the Royal West of England Academy Open Exhibition.

This print, along with others by Tania Skeaping, is available now on our website. Find the link in our bio.

‘Abandoned Lookout’, 2020, by . Aquatint, 22 x 32cm, Edition of 20.

In Tania Skeaping’s work, we glimpse environments where manmade structures and the natural world meet, often in a surreal juxtaposition. By reinterpreting images from personal photographs, drawings, online content and familiar art works, she captures the uncanny or strange.
Skeaping lives and works in Devon, UK. She graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a BA Joint Hons in Visual Studies and History of Art. She has exhibited nationally in mixed shows since 2016. Highlights include the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair (2019, 2020, 2022& 2023), Ingram Prize (2023), Wells Contemporary, the Lyn Painters & Stainers Prize, ING Discerning Eye and the Royal West of England Academy Open Exhibition.

'Transfiguration',

Cyanotype print, on cotton rag paper,

21 x 29.7cm,

2023.

Stewart Russell is passionate about unravelling the complex connection between self and the enigmatic realm of psychoanalysis through the transformative medium of cyanotype. Russell’s art delves deep into the human psyche, drawing inspiration from ancient alchemical theories that underlie the journey of self-discovery and transformation. His journey with formal art education began at the Glasgow School of Art, where he honed his craft and developed a deep appreciation for the avant-garde. Surrealist artist Man Ray, with his exploration of the subconscious and dreamlike imagery, became a significant influence on his work. Cyanotype, not chosen arbitrarily but intrinsically alchemical, embodies his process. It intertwines light, chemistry, and time to craft vibrant blue prints, echoing the alchemical "solve et coagula" principle – disassembling and reassembling elements for higher existence. Cyanotype symbolises the human experience, wherein we deconstruct and rebuild identities, continually evolving in our pursuit of self-understanding.